Prior to its demolition following a four-year closure earlier this summer, the Meadows Road Bridge in Lower Saucon Township served as an important link for east-west commerce in the Saucon Valley for more than 150 years. In spite of being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020, transportation officials ultimately determined that the functionally obsolete single-lane bridge could not be saved. Pictured above is the bridge as it appeared in February 2020. (FILE PHOTO)
Plans for a replacement span for the former Meadows Road Bridge in Lower Saucon Township are scheduled to be presented to Lower Saucon Township Council and members of the public later this month.
According to an Aug. 3 letter from PennDOT Engineering District 5 Acting District Executive-Design Scott Vottero, officials from District 5 and design consultant Alfred Benesch Inc. will present plans for the replacement bridge at the Wednesday, Aug. 17 council meeting, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Lower Saucon Town Hall.
The stone arch, single-lane Meadows Road Bridge was built in 1856 and spanned the Saucon Creek just west of Rt. 412 (Leithsville Road) south of Hellertown borough.
Built and owned by Northampton County, it was dismantled earlier this summer after damage that occurred to it following its closure to traffic was judged to be unrepairable.
Local advocates for the bridge’s preservation contended that the county’s repairs to it over prior decades devalued it because they were historically inaccurate, and that a lack of proper maintenance may have been a contributing factor in its ultimate demise.
The bridge had been added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2020 and was one of the oldest spans in the area before it was removed.
Less than a mile away, Hellertown Historical Society volunteers are currently leading an effort to list a different historic bridge from the same era on the National Register.
A detour that utilizes Skibo Road/Walnut Street has been in place for the crossing where the Meadows Road Bridge previously stood for the past four years.
